Chris Chew asked:


Among the many scuba diving attractions in Little Bahama Bank of the Caribbean Sea, scuba diving with sharks is one of the favorite underwater activities for scuba divers there.

Bahamas’ Bull Pit Shark Dive
This is a classic shark diving destination and having been scuba dived so frequently for many years. It is because of this factor that the sharks there can now associate the sound of boat engines with food. Hey, it is always lunch time whenever boats are approaching.

These awesome sea predators will move very quickly into the area once they sense that the dive boats are coming. Since this strange and unnatural shark behavior that is being cultivated by human activities is not a natural characteristic of sharks hunting for food has been criticized by marine conservationists.

The Bull Pit is made up of a series of low lying reefs and canyons that create a maze of interesting channels and gullies for scuba divers to explore. One favorite method of shark watching by scuba divers is to wait in one of these gullies and wait for the sharks to come near. The sharks of course are aware that the scuba divers are around and will sometimes swim up close to inspect the intruders and to check for food handouts.

Although The Bull Pit dive site is considered a safe diving location, inexperienced divers may be frightened to find themselves in such close proximity with these fierce meat eating predators. All novice and inexperienced scuba divers should therefore dive under the close supervision of experienced divers so that they would not panic and do things that may attract the sharks to think of them as food.

Bahamas Shark Rodeo
This famous shark rodeo in Little Bahama Bank is a flat patch of sand the size of a football field at Walker’s Cay. Dive boats will usually circle the site first, gunning the boat’s engines to attract the sharks.

Upon entering the water, scuba divers will settle on the sandy seabed in sight of a ‘chumsicle’ which is a large frozen mass of fish contained in a porous cylinder. The good thing about this shark feeding system is that it avoids pieces of fish remains floating near watching scuba divers so as to prevent shark attacking scuba divers by accident.

The feeding sharks, often more than a hundred of them from several shark species will suddenly zoom in to the chumsicle in a feeding frenzy. This is when the show begins. Divers are warned to keep very still when some of the sharks may glide over to check out who is eyeing their meals or worse, eating the scuba divers as their meal.

So if you plan for a scuba diving trip to the Bahamas, do dive with the sharks.

Chris Chew asked:


The AFP reported on 25 Jan 2007 that a brave scuba diver repelled a Great White Shark attack yesterday. How did this man escaped from the most feared predator of the sea, the monstrous Great White Shark which is known to grow up to 30 feet long and can weigh tons?

The Australian scuba diver, Eric Nerhus said that he resisted the shark attack so vigorously because he did not want to be an undignified fish food. Fish food? The Great White Shark is no ordinary shark It is a huge mean meat eating machine and nothing in the ocean can stand against its ferocity and viciousness.

Scuba Diving Shark Encounter
According to Eric, he was scuba diving collecting abalone in the ocean south of Sidney when he suddenly found himself half way into the gigantic mouth of the 10 footer monster with its sharp razor teeth grinding on him. He told Australia’s Nine Network TV station that he was so shocked at first that he did not know what was happening. ‘I went straight into its mouth. My shoulders, my head and one arm went straight down its throat and I could feel its teeth crunching up and down on my scuba diving weight vest.’ he described to reporters from his hospital bed.

Eric, a father of two teenage kids realized that his only hope of escaping from the shark was by stabbing repeatedly at the creature’s eye with his abalone chisel as the shark begun to shake him side to side in a vicious vice like grip around his waist. The struggle was so violent that Eric’s regulator (breathing apparatus scuba diving gear) was knocked out from his mouth preventing him from breathing and his diver’s face mask crushed.

The shark must have been hurt by Eric’s vigorous stabbing of its eye that it suddenly paused, and then open its mouth just in the nick of time for Eric to escape from the shark’s deadly jaws. The gallant scuba diver then swam painfully to the surface followed by the shark not too far behind him. He was quickly pulled to safety by his son before the Great White shark gets its second chance of making Eric its fish food. The waters of Australia, South Africa and Florida are known to experience Great White Shark attacks on scuba divers, snorklers, surfers and swimmers now and then. Attacks by The Great White sharks are usually fatal and this scuba diver must have been very lucky to have escaped one piece.

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